


Curriculum Vitae

by Anna Noëlle (AnnaNL9902)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaNL9902/pseuds/Anna%20No%C3%ABlle
Summary: Curriculum VitaeMostly known by it's primairy use, another word for resume, but also for it's lesser known meaning: the course of life.
Relationships: Nora Darhk & Ray Palmer, Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As it's my birthday todat and I have this little tradition of posting a new story on my birthday, I'd like to continue this tradition.
> 
> This story is unedited and unbeta-d, so all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

After an amazing night, Nora and Ray were asleep in their bed. Nora woke up and stared at Ray. He was still asleep and she softly pressed a kiss to his chest, trying to wake him up. He didn’t respond. Teasingly, Nora went upwards, until she reached his mouth. Ray moaned. Nora went back down, the same way she went up, repeating her actions.

“Hi, good morning,” Nora heard Ray’s sleepy voice. Nora looked at him with a naughty smile. “This is a great way to wake up.”

Nora moved her body and wrapped her arms around his neck then pressed a kiss to his lips. Because of her firm grip on his neck, he turned them around. Now Nora wasn’t on top anymore, but Ray was.

“You’re in a good mood this morning,” Nora laughed. Nora didn’t even get a response, just a growl and she simply kissed him.

Before anything further could happen, the pair got interrupted by Gideon’s alarm. Nora and Ray looked at each other and sighed. Without having to communicate, they got up, put on their clothes and walked toward the bridge. Sara already stood there, Charlie walked in in her pajamas, followed by Zari a couple seconds later. Nora wanted to make a comment about it but decided to stay quiet. She would talk about it with Zari one day.

“Gideon, what do you have for us?” Sara asked the AI.

The AI appeared. “A change in the timeline in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, 1871. Right before the fire starts in the city.”

The team looked at each other, all having no clue which fire Gideon was talking about.

“Due to the enormous draught multiple fires broke out, following each other. There were the fires in Chicago, Holland and Peshtigo. Approximately a third of the inhabitants lost their homes and the dead count in estimated between the 1200 and 2500 people, making in the deadliest fire in the American history.”

The team looked startled. This was serious and they all had to pay attention.

Eventually Sara distanced herself away from the group, getting everyone’s attention. “Alright everyone, I want everyone to watch each other’s backs and don’t leave anyone alone. I don’t want to lose anyone in the fire. Please, be careful everyone.”

The team nodded and they walked to the fabrication room in silence. Even Mick and Charlie didn’t dare to make a remark.

After Ray and Nora changed into mission gear, they took a short moment for themselves, before all hell broke loose. Ray pulled his girlfriend in a comforting hug and kissed her crown, calming Nora instantly. “I love you.”

Nora pulled back a little and she kissed him. “I love you too.”

They walked back towards the bridge hand in hand. Time to put their game face on.

XXX

Arriving in 1871, the team divided themselves into two groups, Nora went with Zari and Ray went with Charlie and John, while Mick and Sara stayed behind on the ship for quarterback. The fire had started already and trying to find their magical creature, Ray, Charlie and John carefully tried to walk closer to the fire. They knew that John’s magic could save them, but they were still careful.

They were searching for the creature, yet they kept on hitting dead ends. John also couldn’t help track it down with his magic, making it even more difficult. They walked around for what felt like hours, but no one could actually tell for how long they had walked around. It was hard to tell time with all the chaos the fires had created.

Suddenly they heard a hard bang and crying afterwards. The surrounding areas had become so dangerous, that everyone had fled already.

Ray eventually found a small girl, he estimated that she was two years old, sitting in a tiny alley between two buildings. Without hesitation, Ray ran towards her and using all his strength he pushed away the wooden beam, which was lying on top of her.. When the girl was freed, he carefully lifted her on his chest. He looked her over the girl had bleeding scratches or red marks all over, which most certainly would turn into bruises.

“Ray, you can’t take her to the Waverider. Sara will kill you, literally!” Charlie yelled at Ray.

Ray didn’t listen to Charlie and pulled the girl a little closer to his chest. Somehow the girl stayed calm, something Ray admired. She barely knew him, yet she already trusted him. “I can’t leave her here all alone on the street, she’s too badly injured.”

John observed the area and came to the conclusion that it didn’t look good. “Sorry to interrupt your squabbling, but if we’d like to get out of here alive, then we have to move right now!”

Ray didn’t even look at Charlie anymore and ran towards the Waverider with the young girl in his arms, leaving John and Charlie behind. Charlie shook her head, watching Ray ran away and followed him together with John shortly after back to the Waverider.

XXX

Zari and Nora walked towards the complete other side as Ray, Charlie and John, yet they also walked into the fires. The fires only got bigger and bigger, but Zari and Nora didn’t want to go back until Sara specifically ordered them to.

Suddenly Nora felt that no one was walking beside her anymore and she scanned her surroundings as quickly as possible. Where did Zari go? The fires gotten even closer, until she was completely surrounded and couldn’t find a way out. Without even noticing her breathing accelerated and the adrenaline streamed through her body. Ze only has one goal: survive. She felt her magic stream through her veins and was about to use it, when someone grabbed her hand and she is being pulled out of the fire. Her legs started running and after running on for about half a mile through the heat, they stopped and Nora finally has the time to see who her savior was. He was a young man, whose eyes looked kind.

“Zari, where is she? Where is Zari?”

“Your friend? She has been saved already and she told that she had to go back to her family?” The young man could tell her. Nora was relieved and sighed. “My name is Dob.”

“Nora,” she swiftly introduced herself. “But I really have to go back to my family, which way did my friend go?” Nora was shown the way and quickly walked back towards the ship. Why did Zari walk away and leave her alone?

XXX

When Ray, Charlie and John arrived on the Waverider, Ray carried the girl as fast as humanly possible to the med bay. He heard someone call his name, but he didn’t care and just let it slip. Het put her in one of the two beds and let Gideon do her work. During these nerve-wracking minutes in which Gideon tried to save the little girl, Ray nervously stood really close to her. He clearly felt responsible for what happened to the girl.

“Doctor Palmer?” Gideon interrupted Ray’s worrying. Ray studied the screen which held the medical data of the young girl. “I have tried to repair most of her internal damage, right now she needs rest to heal, so I placed her in a medically induced coma.”

Ray nodded and grabbed one of the chairs standing nearby and put in next to the girl’s bed. He would stay here, to protect the girl, but perhaps even more important: to protect his heart.

XXX

In the same time, Nora arrived on the Waverider and she immediately saw Zari. Nora shot her an angry look and Zari’s face turned to e face full of regret.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you alone, but Sara ordered me to come back as soon as possible and I lost you and then I saw you were being saved already, so I went back as soon as I could.”

Nora’s angry look disappeared and she nodded understandingly. “The man who saved me told the same story. It’s okay.”

Zari sighed relieved. “Can I hug you? I know you’re not a hugger, but I feel like this is a hug kind of thing.”

Nora laughed and wrapped her arms around Zari. “The longer I live with the Legends, the easier the hugging gets.”

“A relationship with Ray Palmer will also have something to do with that.”

The two women looked at each other and started laughing. After they were done laughing, they walked further onto the Waverider, after which Nora would go looking for Ray.

XXX

A tiny hand on his shoulder let Ray wake up. When he opened his eyes, he looked straight into a pair of happy – but if you looked better you saw afraid – blue eyes.

“Hi,” Ray greeted the girl, “you don’t have to be afraid, my name is Ray and I saved you from the fire.” The girl seemed to understand and nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Jane,” The girl answered and sat up straight, making her dark blonde locks fall playfully along her face. “Miss Jane Winterbottom.”

Ray held out his hand, which the girl took. “Mr. Ray Palmer. It is so nice to meet you, miss Jane Winterbottom.”

Jane smiled and there reigned a silence. Ray used the silence to observe the girl really thoroughly. Ze wore typical nineteenth-century clothing, which were stained with soot and torn because of the fire. She also had some smudge still on her face and her – what Ray guessed lighter blonde – hair, discolored and became a darker color.

The same counted for Jane, she also used this silence, but not only to observe Ray. She observed in what kind of room she was and what was in the room. The room was full of stuff she had never seen in her very short life. It was also very bright here, why was it so bright? She heard a weird female voice too and she searched for the female who belonged to that voice, yet she couldn’t find her.

Jane had fallen – thanks to her exhaustion – asleep a couple minutes later, leaving Ray alone again. “Gideon?” The AI started, letting Ray talk further. “Where in the timeline could I place Jane, making the tiniest alteration?”

There was a painful silence. “I’m sorry doctor Palmer, but you can’t place miss Winterbottom back in the timeline, otherwise you will cause catastrophic damage to the timeline.”

“Why?”

“Miss Winterbottom was supposed to die.”

XXX

When Gideon had told Nora that Ray was in the med bay, but that he wasn’t injured – something Nora found odd, because why would he be in the med bay when everyone else was in the kitchen – walked Nora calmly walked towards Ray in the med bay. Once she arrived, she knocked on the closed door and within seconds she heard someone rumble and the doors opened. Ray appeared in the door opening and before Nora could walk into the room, Ray directed her outside the room.

“Ray, what’s going on?” She asked surprised. Ray let Gideon close the doors into the med bay and moved, making the two standing against each other. “Ray, who’s in there?”

Ray took a deep breath and shuffled uncomfortably on his feet. “In there is Jane, a young girl I saved in 1871. I wanted to place her right back where I got her, but I asked Gideon and in the original timeline, the girl was supposed to die.”

Nora didn’t know what to do with this particular piece of information and was completely perplex.

Ray stayed calm and talked further, not letting Nora influence his emotions. “Gideon told me that if I placed her back in the timeline, the damage will be catastrophic, so I guess that means that she has to stay here and I think I and I hope we have to take care of her.

Nora stayed quiet, she seemed to be thinking. Ray knew her well enough to keep his mouth shut, she would come with what is bothering her as long as he wouldn’t say anything. Suddenly Nora angrily hit Ray on his chest. “Ray, I don’t want to have kids right now!” The fierce look in her eyes told Ray enough to know to stay silent. “Maybe not ever!”

That hurt Ray. He always wanted to have kids and had always imagined a little family with Nora. She would be an amazing mom, yet she didn’t know that.

As a tidal wave of emotions, Nora started crying and sought support at the wall. “I can’t raise kids. I-.”

“Ray?” The fighting was interrupted by Jane who entered the hallway.

“Oh my god,” Nora was shocked. Ray shifted his attention from Nora to Jane and held out his hand, which Jane took. He turned around, hoping to introduce Jane to Nora, but then he saw that Nora was gone. He wanted to follow Nora – he knows for a fact that she had gone to the library, cause she always did that if she needed some time to think of some time for herself – but he was stopped by the sound of the damn alarm. Somehow he still didn’t know why the alarm always went off when he was busy with something.

With Jane holding his hand, they walked towards the bridge where the rest of the team including Nora, already gathered. Everyone was silent for a moment and stared at them, but mostly at Jane, making Jane feeling uncomfortable and she tried to hide behind his legs.  
Sara cleared her throat and everyone’s attention immediately shifted to Sara. “Alright everybody, the timeline still isn’t fixed. Gideon, what can you tell me about what went wrong?”

Gideon showed a photograph of a man and the whole team studied the photograph. Nora recognized the man, before Gideon could tell who the man was. “That’s Dob.”  
Surprised by her answer, the whole team – except Zari, who also knew the man – glared at her.

“You know him, Nora?” Sara expressed the surprise of the entire team.

Nora straightened her back. “He was the one who saved me from the fire, without him I might have been burned.”

“Miss Darhk is right. His actual name is Robert Douglass, nicknamed Dob. He is the one you are after,” Gideon caught up op her. Nora, clearly startled by the situation, panickily searched for Ray’s eyes. Ray’s calm eyes had a soothing effect on her and Nora felt herself calm down.

“Alright, considering that both Nora and Zari have already met him, I want the two of you to stay here. Zari, you quarterback and Nora, you watch over Jane.”

Nora’s eyes enlarged when she heard that. Now she had to watch over the exact girl she and Ray had been fighting over a couple minutes ago? She didn’t even know how to deal with children, let even a two year old girl who had just gone through a traumatic experience and had just lost her parents. “But,” she wanted to protest but Sara wasn’t listening anymore and walked off the bridge. The rest of the team following their leaders example, leaving Ray, Nora and Jane alone.

“I’m so sorry,” Ray apologized, even if he didn’t know what he exactly was apologizing for.  
Nora shook her head. “Just go. I’ll try to make the best out of this crappy situation. You have to go.”

Ray pressed a kiss on Nora’s lips and carefully took her hand. When they parted ways, their fingers touched as long as possible. Ray finally also leaving the bridge, leaving Nora and Jane alone.

Nora awkwardly stood in front of Jane. “Hi, I’m Nora.”

Jane didn’t look at her and before Nora had noticed, she exuberantly started running in circles through the bridge. It was like she could feel that everyone was gone and she didn’t need to behave herself anymore. Not understanding why Jane did that, Nora followed her with her eyes. Nora decided to just let her run, as long as she kept herself busy, Nora wouldn’t have to entertain her. Nora sat down on the stairs leading to Sara’s office, where she could see most of the bridge and could see Jane.

After Jane had ran around for a couple of minutes, she ran towards the stairs and launched herself onto Nora. Nora stopped paying attention after Jane had been running for a minute and heard a bang. Jane had fallen on the stairs and started crying. As fast as possible Nora turned towards Jane and saw she had a head lac, which must have happened during her fall.

Without giving it a second thought, she ordered Jane to sit still and the magic streamed through her hands. In no time the wound was healed. Nora awkwardly tried to put her arm around Jane, to offer her comfort, but before she could do that, Jane crawled already in her lap. Jane put her head on Nora’s chest, for a while they just sat there. Nora breathed relieved, despite the fall she had managed to calm Jane down and stopped her crying.

“Mommy?” Jane broke the silence.

Nora freaked out and looked at Jane. “Sweetie, I’m not you mother. I’m not capable of being anyone’s mother. Please, don’t sweetie.”

The little girl kept her mouth shut. It seemed that she had to process what Nora had just told her.

“Mommy, dwink?” Jane’s puppy eyes appeared.

Nora wanted to defend herself again that she wasn’t and couldn’t be her mother, but decided to just let it slide for now. “A drink?” Nora asked and Jane nodded. “I most certainly could use one right about now.” She stood up and wanted to walk towards the galley, when she heard Jane.

“Mommy, carry!”

Nora turned towards Jane and looked at her. Jane stood on the elevation towards Sara’s office and Nora leaned towards her, their heads on the same height. “Jane, sweetie, I’m not your mother, so stop calling me that!” There was a silence and the duo broke of their staring contest, until Nroa broke their silence. “Why do you insist on calling me mommy?”

“You’re my mommy.”

Nora didn’t know how to react on this information, so she just lifted Jane. When she had lifted Jane, she didn’t know how to carry Jane. It wasn’t until she realized that one time she went to the zoo with her parents, before everything had gone downhill, and she had seen a mother carry her child on her hip. She moved Jane towards her hip, and immediately the carrying became less heavy.

Together they walked towards the galley and Nora placed the girl on the countertop, but not before Nora explained to her multiple times that she had to sit still. Nora opened the fridge and searched for something a two year old could drink, until Nora realized that she had no clue what a two year old could drink.

“Miss Darhk, if I may advise you,” Gideon butted in.

Nora gratefully looked up. “I’d love to Gideon, I’m a little out of my element here.”

“Since she is a toddler, I’d recommend you give her apple juice.”

Nora glanced at Jane, but she showed no look of recognition. Nora grabbed the apple juice from the fridge and poured Jane a cup. She handed her the cup and Jane began to drink greedily. She must’ve been parched.

Nora opened the fridge again and was about to grab the bottle of wine, until Jane got inside her head. She was responsible for the little girl and she can’t do that when she is tipsy. She put the bottle of wine back in the fridge and grabbed a water bottle.

Nora glanced sideways again and saw she still happily sat on the countertop. She had put her empty glass beside her. Nora lifted her of the countertop and took her hand. Hand in hand they walked towards Ray’s lab. There she sat Jane on the couch and turned on the tv. Nora sat down next to Jane and Jane crawled into Nora’s side. Nora felt awkward and didn’t know what to do now. She wanted to move, but saw that Jane had fallen asleep already within the past seconds. As some sort of primal instinct, Nora stroked over Jane’s spine. She might find this situation difficult, but if she had to be completely honest, this was soothing.

About half an hour later the door into the lab opened and Ray entered the room. As soon as he saw Nora and Jane, an enormous smile appeared on his face.

‘Hey,” Nora greeted her boyfriend.

“Hi beautiful.” Ray took a seat on the handrail next to Nora and Nora hung against him. “How did it go?”

Nora still stroked over Jane’s back and smiled when she thought about the past hours. She looked at Ray for a moment and shifted her attention back to Jane. “It went so much better than I expected. Despite that she has just lost her parents and she has been through more changes than some people go through in their entire life, has she been so sweet and such a good girl.” Nora takes a short break. “When you guys were gone, she first ran out all of her energy and she fell in the end.” Ray got a terrified look on his face, but Nora kept talking. “I healed her wound with her magic and we drank some apple juice and then we moved here and she fell asleep within seconds. She has been so quiet and cooperative.”

Ray kissed her and for a moment, they just sat there with the three of them.

“Nora-,” Ray started. Nora looked at him, but felt someone move in her side. She turned her eyes away from him and focused on Jane.

Jane slowly woke up and opened her eyes. Her eyes got a sparkle when she saw Nora. “Mommy.”

Ashamed Nora looked back at Ray. “I’m so sorry, I tried to tell her, but she kept calling me that and I couldn’t find it in my heart to tell her no.”

Ray put his hand on his shoulder and opened his mouth.

On that exact moment, Sara entered the lab and three sets of eyes gazed at her. “Ray, Nora, I want to talk to you about Jane.”

Nora and Ray nodded understanding.

“Ray, I don’t agree with the way you handled this and how you dealt with history and therefore you’ll get disciplinary measures, otherwise I just won’t be able to afford this towards the Time Bureau. But perhaps the most important: what do you want to do with her?”

Startled by Sara’s loud, angry voice, Jane climbed over Nora and crawled between Ray and Nora on the couch.

Ray stayed quiet, not knowing how to answer. Nora had made her opinion on children very clear that she didn’t want children now and maybe not ever. But he couldn’t deal with leaving the little Jane all be herself.

“We’ll take care of her,” Nora beat him to answer. Nora looked at Ray in love. “She’ll stay here and we’ll adopt her and take care of her as if she is our own child.”

Not knowing how to ever thank her, Ray kissed her. One day he was going to marry this amazing woman and the mother of – from now on – their child. 

XXX

When Sara had handled everything with Ray and Nora, the three of them were left alone in Ray’s lab. Ray sat down on the couch and pulled Nora in his lap and Nora pulled Jane in her lap, forming a pile of human bodies. The three of them merged in a group hug and Nora found herself at peace. These were the people she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Jane started yawning and moving after a while.

Nora caressed her face and softly kissed her head, before pulling her a little closer. “Is it nearly bedtime, Jane?”

Jane yawned again, before shaking her head, making Ray and Nora laugh.

“I think that before bed time, it is bath time,” Ray suggested enthusiastically. Jane nodded, matching Ray’s enthusiasm.

Nora glanced from Ray to Jane and back and lifted Jane from her lap and stood up, lifting Jane. “I think it’s bath time, little one.”

“I’m not little anymore, mama,” she said with an angry face.

Ray was standing up, when Nora smiled a little. “I’m sorry sweetie, I won’t call you little anymore.”

Jane seemed to agree with that and stopped protesting and nested even closer in Nora’s chest. She didn’t want to let go of Nora anymore. Nora carried her to the bathroom, Ray following them closely. Without having to say anything, filled Ray the bath with water and Nora started undressing Jane. Nora let Jane do as much as she could do herself, but noticed that it was a little too difficult for Jane, so she helped her. At first, Jane wouldn’t enter the bath, but after Nora explained it was to clean and when Ray conjured some toys from somewhere, she entered without complaining.

Now Nora sat peacefully next to the bath, playing with Jane and washing her with a cloth. She wanted to wash Jane’s hair, until she realized how much she hated that when she was a kid. “Ray?”

“Yeah?”

The look in her eyes was desperate. “Do I really have to wash her hair?”

Ray inspected their situation and tried to think of the best solution. “I would just wash her hair, if you only wash her hair with water, it will only get rattier and the smoke smell will stay in her hair.”

Nora nodded. “You’re right.” Nora grabbed the bottle of two in one shampoo and put it so gentle as possible in her hair. Nora sighed. “This might sting a little, but I’m going to try my best.” Jane just sat completely still and didn’t move; making Nora’s job easier.

While Nora washed Jane’s hair, Ray stood on the other side of the bathroom. He just observed them. This very morning Nora argued that she couldn’t be a mother, yet here she was, washing a young child’s hair and not just any young child; their young child. His heart melted of already simply the sight of them. “Ray, can you get a set of pajama’s for her, please?”

Ray nearly ran towards the fabrication room and fabricated a set of pajama’s for his daughter and a clean set of underwear. When he walked in again, his heart melted. Jane was already out of the bath, wrapped in a gigantic towel. Her hair in all directions and Nora tried to dry her daughter. He just stood in the door opening, observing his girlfriend and their toddler. This was everything he never knew he needed.

“Ray, can you give me the pajama’s?” Nora interrupted. Ray quickly got out of the door opening and handed Nora the pajama’s. Nora helped Jane put her pajama’s on, which she managed to do very smoothly and without the need to yell at anyone. She picked Jane up and glanced at Ray, who now knew that she was going to walk to their bedroom. Luckily after Nora moved out of her own room, which was next to Ray’s room, and was her old room still empty, so that Jane could sleep there now.

Nora and Ray first brought their daughter to their own room and changing into their pajama’s, so they all wore sleep clothes. They unanimously decided that Ray would change first, so that Jane didn’t have to let go of Nora yet. Ray was changed within a minute and rejoined Jane and Nora. Nora wanted to let go of Jane, but Jane thought otherwise. She clamped herself to Nora’s waist. There was no way Nora could change with Jane holding onto her like this.

Nora squatted, so that she and Jane were on the same height. “Jane, you know how you like my hugs?” Jane nodded, “Well, daddy has even better hugs, why don’t you try them out?” Jane had to consider for a minute, until she ran straight into Ray’s arms. Ray hugged her and held her close, while sitting down in an armchair.

Nora took this opportunity to swiftly change out of her regular clothes and put on her pajama. When she was finished, she turned and saw Ray and Jane sitting in the armchair. It might’ve been the cutest sight ever. Ray enjoying the moments with his new daughter and Jane feeling so at ease that she had fallen asleep on Ray’s chest. She quietly walked towards the two and kissed Ray.

“I love you.”

Ray smiled. “I love you too.”

They walked towards Jane’s bedroom and Ray put her in her bed and they tucked her in together. Jane received two kisses on the top of her head, from both her new mother and her new father. Jane smiled in her sleep, melting Ray and Nora’s hearts even further. Without making a noise, Ray and Nora left the bedroom, letting Jane sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_6 weeks later_

Being a parent is hard and exhausting, something both Nora and Ray experienced firsthand, but also the most rewarding job in the world. At first everyone had to settle into the newfound relationship and so the new dynamics within the team. Now, six weeks later, Nora was still exhausted. She talked to Ray about it and he said he was tired too, but she was so exhausted she could barely come out of bed.

After another morning of being so exhausted she couldn’t get out of bed, Nora decided to pay a visit to the med bay, maybe Gideon could find out if something was wrong. Letting Gideon check on her was a big step, she was so used to just dealing with these things on her own, that she usually didn’t do this. But it was one of the things she learned from Ray: selfcare. Learning how to take care of yourself and that it is okay to not be okay, but also to ask help when needed.

Nora nervously walked into the med bay, she had this silly feeling in her belly, like something important would happen, yet she had no clue what it could be. Gideon greeted her and she lay down on the first bed she saw.

“What is going on, Miss Darhk?”

Nora inhaled deeply. “I have been feeling so exhausted the last couple weeks since Jane arrived and I know that that is mostly the fact that we all had to adjust to having Jane here, but Ray has been dealing with that just as much as I have, but he isn’t this exhausted. I feel like something is wrong with me, can you please check if nothing serious is going on?”  
Nora quickly saw Gideon running a scan and this calmed her a bit, despite being even more anxious about the results.  
“There is nothing wrong with you that I could tell, Miss Darhk.” Nora sighed relieved. “But there is something else.”  
Nora grew even more anxious than she felt before. “What is it, Gideon?”  
“You seem to be carrying a six week old fetus, Miss Darhk.”  
“Oh fuck.”

XXX

Nora had a hard time accepting what Gideon had just told her. She avoided Ray the rest of the day and during dinner she lied that she wasn’t hungry, so that she wouldn’t have to sit at the same table as the rest of the legends. Even though she was famished, she could not find the willpower to eat.

Ray had noticed that something was off and he offered to bring Jane to bed. An offer Nora had, with much pain in her heart, accepted. The longer Jane lived with them, the more she got used to having Ray around and letting him bring her to bed was a big step. Yet Jane was still a mommy kind of girl and wanted to do everything her mother did and wanted to be as close to her as she could all the time. That and that Jane would only let her be comforted after a nightmare by Nora, consumed all of her energy.  
Ray entered the room and changed into his nightclothes and crawled into bed next to Nora. He put his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “You want to talk to me?”

Nora wanted to answer, but her stomach beat her to it with making funny noises.

“Have you even eaten to day?” Ray asked kindly. Nora loved that about Ray, he would never judge her for anything. He was just concerned about her wellbeing.

“No, I haven’t…”

Ray caressed Nora’s face. “You know that eating on regular times is also a form of selfcare, right?”

Nora nodded, cause she already knew, but hearing Ray say this made it sound far more real.

Ray was about to exit the bed, when Nora put her hand on his arm and stopped him. “Ray, thank you.”

Ray came back a little while later with a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel sauce and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, something Nora gratefully accepted. After she finished her sandwich and drank most of her hot cocoa, she moved, sitting with her front facing Ray, who had almost passed out on his pillow.

Nora put her mug on her nightstand. “You know, I’m glad we decided to adopt Jane and I know for sure that she will make an amazing big sister.”

“Yeah, that sounds great,” Ray was silent for a couple seconds, but then he lifted his head up and his eyes shot wide open. “Wait, did you just say big sister?”

Nora confirmed and Ray put her arms around him as soon as possible and kissed her. “We’re having a baby.”

Finally could Nora also smile, because of this news and she could finally say it out loud. “Yes, we’re having a baby.”

The next morning, Nora woke up pretty early, feeling extremely nauseous. It was like now she knew she was pregnant, everything that was part of being pregnant came at the same time. Ray was still asleep and she wanted to keep it that was, so she tried to exit the room as quietly as she could. She ran to the bathroom, hang above the toilet and started puking. Within seconds Ray ran into the room and gently grabbed her hair out of her face. After a solid ten minutes of puking, Nora’s stomach was empty. Exhaustingly, she let herself fall down on the ground next to the toilet. Everything seemed fine, until a panic appeared in her eyes.  
Ray saw Nora’s eyes change and grabbed her hands. “Nora, what’s going on?”

Nora looked him in the eyes and she was silent for a couple of seconds. “There are so many things that could go wrong.” Ray nodded, as a sign that he understood. “I don’t want to tell Jane or anyone else yet, I don’t want to make her happy with the news yet, to maybe take all that happiness away a couple weeks later.”

“Nora, nothing has to go wrong.” Nora sent him an angry look, shutting Ray up. “I won’t tell anything to Jane, I promise.”

“At least till I enter my second trimester?”

“At least until you enter your second trimester.”

Nora nestled herself in Ray’s chest. “I’m happy that I get to share this crazy adventure of parenthood with you.”

Ray stroked her arm, to eventually grab her hand and kiss it. “I wouldn’t want to share this with anyone else.”

XXX

Ray and Nora’s agreement went okay, just until Jane woke up. Jane hobbled to the bed, where Ray and Nora had ended up after Nora’s adventure in the bathroom and climbed in over Ray and snuggled in between her parents.

“Hey baby,” Nora greeted her daughter and Jane snuggled closer to her mother. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yes, mommy.”

Ray scooted closer and threw his long muscular arms around Jane, making her disappear in his arms. “Daddy, no!” she laughed.

Ray kissed Jane’s cheek, followed by Nora’s mouth and then crawled under the blankets to kiss Nora’s stomach. “I love you three so much.”

The room was suddenly silent, Jane’s giggles stopped and the only thing you could hear where the breath sounds.

“Three?” Jane asked, not understanding where that number came from. She could only count two persons, her and her mother.

“Yeah, you, mommy and the baby,” Ray explained enthusiastic to his daughter, not paying attention to his girlfriend who shot him a dead glare.

“Ray!” Nora yelled, hitting Ray on his shoulder. That’s the moment that Ray realized what he had just done. He had broken his promise to Nora. He had promised he wouldn’t tell Jane until she had passed her first trimester.

“Mommy, what is a baby?” Jane inquired her mother. Nora wanted to answer, but the stress became too much. Her morning sickness combined with the stress of not wanting to tell Jane yet, but Ray telling her anyway became too much for her body. She sprinted out of the bed and got as fast as possible to the bathroom, to throw up above the toilet.

It took a couple of seconds until Ray and Jane could fathom what had just happened. Ray lifted Jane on his hip and together they followed Nora to the bathroom. Ray ran towards Nora to help her, while Jane anxiously stood in the corner of the room. She had gotten scared, by seeing her mom throwing up and her dad panic, so she crawled into her corner, literally this time.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked Nora minutes later, when Nora told him she was done with throwing up.

Nora stroked her hair out of her face and put it in a easy bun. “I’m feeling better now at least,” there was a silence, “where is Jane?” Ray turned and saw Jane sitting in the corner, hiding behind a towel.

“Jane, can I come and get you?” he decided to ask permission first.

A soft ‘yes’ echoed through the room. Ray stepped towards her and slowly tilted her to his chest, walking back towards Nora. Jane peeked beside Ray and glanced towards her mother. She wasn’t throwing up anymore and she moved around in Ray’s arm, making sure that Ray would let her go. And Ray did. The moment Jane’s feet hit the ground, she hurried to her mom and crawled into her lap. “Are you feeling better mommy?”

Nora soothingly rocked back and forward, calming Jane down. “I am sweetie, I am.”

“I don’t like that you are feeling sick.” It felt like someone put a sword through her chest, hearing Jane utter these words. These words were so heart wrenching, but also so sweet coming from her two year old daughter.

“I know, baby.”

“Is the baby making you sick?” popped out of her mouth. It seemed that the word ‘baby’ made her think about what her dad had told her in there.

Nora did not really know how to answer this question. “Jane, the baby is making me feel a little sick at first and then I’m going to feel a lot better, until the baby comes and you get a little baby brother or sister.”

Jane happily moved in Nora’s lap. “I’m going to be a big sister?”

“Yes you are.”

“I don’t like that the baby is making you sick first,” Jane complained with an angry face.

“I know sweetie, I know.”

XXX

They exhaustedly passed out on their bed as soon as they entered the room. Jane was so tired, she fell asleep almost immediately in between Ray and Nora. Ray smiled and Nora put protectively her arm around Jane, making Jane snuggle closer to her mother.

“Can we make her a birth certification?” Ray asked literally out of nowhere.

Nora looked up, surprised by Ray’s words. “Why?”

“I want her to really be ours,” he said as he fiddled with Jane’s hair, “And I want to move back to 2019 with you, her and the baby one day, and we can’t register her without a birth certificate.”

Nora looked at him in awe. “You want to move back to 2019 with us? You want to live a normal life?”

Ray nodded. “There is nothing in life I want more.”

“But how could we even do that?”

Ray snorted and sat up. “Gideon? Could you make a birth certificate for Jane?”

“Of course, Doctor Palmer, what name and date should I put on the certificate?”

That was a great question. Both of them had a terrified look on their face and did not know what to say. Nora moved and also sat up, so she could face Ray better and that they were on the same level before they started the discussion. “Well at first name, obviously Jane. I don’t want her to take away the one thing she has left.” Nora began.

Ray nodded. “I agree, a middle name?”

Nora smiled at Jane. “I think she has to decide that for herself.”

“That’s a good idea. What about her last name? Darhk? Darhk-Palmer?”

“Palmer,” Nora interrupted with a smile on her face. “I want her to have your last name, because you rescued her and our family should all have the same last name one day.” She put her hand on her belly and smiles to Ray.

Ray’s eyes sparkled. “Really? You want all of us to have the same last day?”

“Of course, dummy, but I’ll wait until you,” Nora laughed, “you know, plan your big Ray Palmer level proposal.”

Ray immediately brought his lips to Nora’s to kiss her, but the closer he got, the more a squeezed Jane, who was still sleeping in the middle, waking her up. Ray kissed Nora, hugging her and making Nora giggle, while Jane squirmed out of her parents embrace.

Ray let go of Nora and shifted his attention to Jane. “Jane, sweetie?” Jane looked at her father. “What do you think is a beautiful name and would you like as a middle name?”

“I want mommy’s name,” Jane said without hesitation, moving her head a little, so she could see her mother’s face.

Nora’s eyes started to become watery by what Jane said, resulting in full on crying.

Jane was startled by her mother’s expressions and duck away a little. “Did I say something wrong, mommy?”

Nora pulled Jane closer and hugged her. “No my sweet baby girl, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. You are the best daughter a mother can wish for.” Nora blew her nose and shrugged her shoulders, feeling the need to explain her sudden loose of control over her emotions to Ray. “It’s just the pregnancy hormones.”

Ray nodded, not believing a word she said, but not confronting her. He kept observing the duo. His heart still melted every time he saw the two of them interact. Nora was the best mom a child could wish for, that she had already proven in this short time that Jane was here. He grabbed his phone and took a couple of pictures. He had already too many pictures, but he didn’t care that his entire photo roll existed out of pictures from Nora, Jane and sonograms from the baby. They were his life and nothing could ever change that.

XXX

With the important piece of paper in her hands walked Jane towards the kitchen, her parents, with an enormous content smile on their faces, following her closely. The doors opened and Jane, Nora and Ray entered. The room fell silent and all the team members stared at the three who just entered.

“Ray, what is this?” Nate was the first one to start asking his best friend questions.

Ray stood behind Jane, Nora standing a little behind them, not exactly hiding, but not really feeling the need to stand in the front. “Everyone, I would like to all introduce you to Jane Eleanor Palmer.”

Before anyone could say anything, Mona jumped out of her chair and ran towards Jane. Mona held out her hand and Jane took it. “Miss Palmer, so nice to meet you. I am your aunt Mona, at your humble service.”

Jane giggled and Nora took a step forward, hugging one of her best friends closely. “Thank you.”

Jane walked from her mother, who was still talking to Mona, to her father. “So now one day all four of us will have the same last name,” Ray announced a little loudly, but with so much pride to Nate.

“The four of you?” he asked, not knowing which four Ray was talking about.

Jane jumped up and down from excitement, once she knew what Ray was talking about. “Yes, Jane, mommy, daddy and the baby!” she shrieked.

“Ray Carson Palmer and Jane Eleanor Palmer!” Nora yelled, silencing the whole team. Nora never yelled and most certainly never at Jane. When Ray and Jane looked at her, she was furious. Well, furious on the outside, on the inside she thought it was too cute that Ray and Jane could not hide their enthusiasm.

Jane’s lip trembled. “I’m sorry mommy.”

Seeing how both Ray as Jane looked like lost puppies, made Nora melt. “How is it possible that the two of you are not biological related,” Nora crouched, making her and Jane’s eyes on the same height, “yet you already take so much after your dad?”

Jane shrugged, while Ray walked a little closer. “Nature versus nurture I think, you don’t want to know the similarities Jane shows to you.” He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “They’re uncanny.”

Nora hit Ray playfully on his chest. “Then I hope this little one takes after you, so you don’t have to deal with another little me,” she whispered.

“There is nothing I want more on this world than having another mini you.”

XXX

When the party celebrating Jane becoming their official child and Nora’s pregnancy had ended, Nora and Ray had gone to bed pretty soon. It was late and they were too tired to do anything else than to go to bed and sleep. Nora had brought Jane long before the party ended to bed, so now it was only her and the baby left. Not that she could feel the baby move yet, but it was soothing to know that he or she was there with her. Not long after she had gone to bed she had also fallen asleep.

Nora woke up a couple hours later, hearing a voice talk. It sounded so far away, yet so close. The adrenaline was still rushing through her body. She felt something move and carefully opened her eyes. She opened them on the perfect moment. The moment she opened them, she saw Jane softly kiss her belly through her pajama.

Jane felt her mother move and focused her attention to her, still leaving her little hand on her mother’s belly. “Don’t worry mommy, me and baby don’t want you to be scared. It’s okay.”

“Huh? What happened?”

Jane lovingly stroked over her mother’s belly. “I woke up and you were screaming and you wouldn’t stop screaming. Then I came to your room and saw that daddy wasn’t here, so then I gave you a kiss and then I gave the baby a kiss.”

That was it. She had had a nightmare and Ray, who wasn’t here, hadn’t heard her. Ray usually woke up when she was screaming in the middle of the night, but if he wasn’t here, he could never hear her. He probably woke up at some point in the night and came up with something science-y and went to the lab, so he wouldn’t wake her up.

“I love you little one.”

A huge smile appeared on Jane’s face. “I love you too mommy.”

“Shall I bring you back to bed?” Jane nodded and they climbed out of bed and walked towards Jane room. Jane ran ahead and Nora followed her a little later. Nora quickly put her in bed, being tired herself and wanting to go back to bed. Jane fell asleep within minutes and Nora walked back to her bed. She crawled into bed and Ray walked into the room. “Seriously, you work through my screaming, but you get here when I just want to get back to bed and sleep?”

“What?” Ray asked. Obviously not knowing what Nora was talking about.

Nora laughed, finding this pretty funny. “I had a nightmare and you worked through it, yet when I have brought Jane to bed and climb back into bed, you waltz in.”

Ray finally seemed to realize what had just happened. “Wait, are you mad?” he asked as he crawled into bed with her and grabbed her hands, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you during you nightmare, I was working in the lab,” he directly apologized.

Nora shook her head.

“You want to talk about your nightmare?” he asked kindly.

Nora shook her head again. “Can we talk about something else?”

Ray scooted closer in the bed. “What do you want to talk about?” They both thought for a second. “Why was Jane here by the way?”

“She heard me and wanted to comfort me, so I woke up with her kissing my belly. She is such a sweet kid.”

“The sweetest.”

They were both silent, just lost in thought.

“I had no idea when we were adopting Jane that it was like two kids for the price of one, since we apparently made this one around the same time.” Making both of them laugh.

Ray smirked. “So, what you’re saying is, we should adopt another and then we’ll end up with two more.”

Nora hit him in his chest. “Raymond Carson Palmer, do not give me ideas,” she threatened, but her smile betrayed her and Ray knew she wasn’t really threatening. “I want to be mad at you for rescuing Jane without talking to me first, but giving a kid a good chance and then also getting a chance at another copy of you? I’m in.”

“You want to have four kids with me?”

“I want all your kids the world will give us.”

Not long after Nora fell asleep in Ray’s arms, listening to Ray’s steady heartbeat, while Ray was cocking up a plan to surprise Nora. This should be the best surprise in her life and he wanted her to love it. On the other hand, he didn’t want to wait. So this plan had to be put into motion as soon as possible.

XXX

A couple days later, it was finally time for Ray’s plan. He had talked to Sara, who had given him permission to carry out his plan and talked to Mona, who of course wanted to help him. So today was going to be the big day. Ray had handed Jane to Mona, who would take care of her for the short amount of time, and Sara had taken care of the Time bureau and the rest of the team, so no one would steal the jump ship for personal gain. 

“Nora?” Ray nudged Nora’s shoulder, hoping she would wake up from her well-deserved and very needed nap. “Nora, honey?”

Nora softly started moaning, announcing that she was waking up. Ray kissed her cheek and then her nose and the rest of her face, delving her with kisses. Nora slowly turned around and smiled. “This is a nice way to wake up,” she murmured. 

“Let’s hope that continues that way,” Ray muttered so soft that Nora didn’t hear him.  
Nora sat up straight and had a concerning look on her face. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” he sighed. “You going to get dressed? I have a surprise for you.”

“Raymond Carson Palmer, you know I hate surprises,” she shouted at him, but Ray had already left the room. 

Despite that he had already left the room, he heard her and smiled. “You’re going to love this one though.”

After Nora had gotten dressed, Ray had escorted her to the jump ship, confusing Nora even more. She had kept on asking where they were going and where Jane was. Ray had his infectious excited smile on his face the entire flight, making it even more difficult for Nora to stay mad at him. When Ray and Nora landed, Nora still had no clue what they were doing, yet Ray got a call shortly after they arrived. 

“Mommy! Daddy!” The joyful face of their daughter appeared on the screen, relieving Nora’s worries. 

“Hi sweetie, where are you?” Nora inquired immediately. 

Jane turned the screen a little, showing Mona. “Auntie Mona and I are in the park, playing on the slide!” she said, ecstatic sounding through her response. 

Nora felt more and more relieved and could finally relax a little. “Okay, stay safe and listen to your auntie, alright?” 

Jane sighed, her dad had given her this whole speech already. “Yes, mommy.” Jane saw something in the back of her eye. “I’m going to play now, mommy.” And without saying goodbye, she had already handed Mona the phone and ran of to the playground. 

Nora was shocked, not knowing what just happened. “Did my daughter just ghost me?” she asked, her eyes becoming glassy. 

“I have to go after Jane,” Mona apologized shortly after and hang up the phone, letting the screen of Ray’s phone turn to black. 

Nora stared startled at the black screen. “What just happened?”

Ray took the phone, put it in his pocket and grabbed her hand. “You see,” he gently nudged her shoulder, “she is just fine.”

“Our daughter just ghosted us and you are not freaked out?” 

Ray glanced at her, while they started walking. “These are the terrible twos, where they answer ‘no’ on every question and they want to do everything themselves. I’m more glad that she trusts us so much that she dares to show this behavior. She will still need your help, Nora,” he gently squeezed her hand and sent her a loving smile, “she will.”

They walked and walked, until they stopped in front of Jitters. Nora was so in her own head, that she had not paid any attention where they were walking and had just followed Ray’s lead. “Jitters?”

Ray stayed silent, bugging Nora visibly even more. They stood in the short line and within seconds it was Ray’s turn to order. “Two hot chocolates with whipped cream and caramel sauce.”

“Coming right up.” The employee got to work, while Ray paid for their drinks. He still held onto Nora’s hand as they waited for their order. Nora observed the store; the store was so familiar, but she could not figure out why. She had been to many Jitters when she was young, yet she could feel there was something special about this one. 

When they got their order, they walked hand in hand to a quiet little nook in the back of the shop. They sat down at a table, sitting so that they could look at each other. “Ray, what is all this? Please, what is going on?”

“I’m not telling you ye-.”

Ray was cut off by a little girl entering the shop. “Mommy! Daddy!” Jane ran towards Ray and Nora’s table, nearly crashing into their table and jumped in her mother's’ arms. 

“Ray?” Nora nearly begged him by now.

“You remember this shop?” Nora shook her head, cause she recognized it, but did not remember it. “This is the shop where we first connected. Chronologically speaking for you then.”

“We played ‘Heads Up’ here, with Zari,” Nora remembered. 

“It is indeed.” Ray looked at Jane. “Do you have it with you, little monkey?” 

Jane nodded with an extremely proud look on her face and handed Ray a little box. 

“And Jane, do you remember what we had rehearsed for mommy?”

Jane nodded again.

“Then you may say it, sweetie.”

Jane took a deep breath with a joyous and proud smile on her face. “Dear mommy, would you like to have the same last name as me and daddy?”

Nora looked surprised at Jane and then glanced at Ray, who stood up, walked around the table and sat down on one knee. “Eleanor Darhk, will you marry me?” he asked the question, while opening the ring box. A beautiful and elegant ring appeared, a ring that was perfectly perfect for her. 

Nora kissed Ray, while tears streamed down her face. With a lump in her throat, there was only one answer that Nora could think of: “Yes!”

Ray slid the ring on her finger and Nora admired it. “You like it?”

“I don’t like it, I love it,” she giggled while she kissed him again. Jane jumped up and down and after they broke their kiss, Nora hugged Jane and Mona shortly after. “You knew, didn’t you?”

Mona giggled. “Of course I knew, that’s why I took care of Jane, but I could not ruin Ray Palmer’s proposal, could I?”

Ray interrupted the moment between the two friends soon. “The surprise isn’t over yet,” he mouthed in her ear. 

“But what could even top this surprise?”

There appeared a mischievous smile on Ray’s face. “Just wait and see.”

They walked a couple minutes until they reached a family friendly neighborhood, but Nora didn’t know what was going on, until Ray stopped in front of beautiful house. “Ray, can you stop with the surprises already.”

“We are here.” Ray put his arms around Nora’s shoulders, while Jane and Mona ran to the swing set, which hang in the tree standing in the garden. “This is hopefully a house where we can have a loving home and build a life together.”

Nora was flabbergasted by this sweet and loving gesture and started crying. Ray, forever the gentleman, was immediately concerned. “Are you okay, Nora? Don’t you like the house?”

Nora fiercely nodded her head. “I love the house and I love the gesture. I just never expected that this would become my life.” She put her hand on her belly and kissed Ray. “So thank you for turning my life around and live this amazing life with me.”  
“No one I would rather share this amazing life with.” Ray kissed her again. They watched Jane and Mona play on the swing set as Ray nudged his hip into Nora. “Also I made sure we had enough bedrooms for four kids.”

Nora sighed as she gently elbowed him in the ribs. “You are incorrigible, mister.”

“I am, future Mrs. Palmer.”


End file.
